Spock's Appeal
by WeirdLittleStories
Summary: While Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, and Chapel are killing time over drinks, Kirk and McCoy want to know why so many women have crushes on Spock. So Uhura and Chapel explain it all to them. (This is unrepentant fangirlishness about Spock, put into story form. :-D) Epilogue just added!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:**

I'm in the middle of writing a long, plot-heavy story and felt the need for a fluff break, so I dashed this off. I thought other Spock fangirls might enjoy it, in spite of (or because of :-D) the fluffiness.

This story takes place during the second year of the first five-year mission.

* * *

**Spock's Appeal**

by WeirdLittleStories

Once the last colonist had been vaccinated, the _Enterprise_'s medical team breathed a sigh of relief. Aldebaran Eight-Day Fever had no cure, but the vaccine was extremely effective at preventing the disease. The Federation had rushed the vaccine to the colony at warp six as soon as a case of the Fever had been discovered there, and a combination of quarantine and vaccination ensured that only the index case would die.

McCoy and Chapel had given the vaccinations while Uhura contacted every single colonist and ensured that each of them had an appointment with the vaccinators. Kirk had schmoozed with Anthony Rinaldi, the colony's leader, fielding his demands, soothing his fears, and ensuring that the colony's government understood and approved of every detail of the vaccinations. Once the last vaccination had been given, the four _Enterprise_ officers felt that strange combination of exhilaration and exhaustion that often accompanies the successful completion of a project.

Rinaldi insisted on a celebratory round of drinks for all of them at the colony's lone tavern, and the alcohol hit the weary officers hard. As soon as Rinaldi left, Kirk looked around the table. "You've all worked hard today, and I'm proud of you. Now, which shall it be? Should I buy you another round of drinks, or beam us all back to our beds?"

McCoy yawned. "How about the best of both worlds? You owe us a round of drinks the next time we go on shore leave, and tonight we get to go to bed right away?"

Chapel and Uhura murmured their agreement, and Kirk smiled. "Suits me." He pulled out a communicator and called the _Enterprise, _requesting immediate beam up.

"Spock here, Captain. I regret that we cannot beam you up as yet. When Mr. Kyle attempted to retrieve the medical equipment, it arrived as melted slag, a state in which we do not wish to retrieve personnel. Mr. Scott has located the problem and is currently repairing the transporter; he expects to have it operational in approximately one hour. He suggested that I tell you to 'have a wee dram while ye cool yer heels,' presumably because he believed that the waiting period would pass more agreeably in that fashion."

Kirk laughed into his communicator. "Spock, I never knew you could do a Scottish accent! Is there no end to your talents?"

"My talents are, in fact, finite, though I do not believe that you have yet witnessed them in their entirety. I regret that instantaneous transporter repair is not among them."

"We'd thought about having another drink, anyway, so we'll go do that. Let us know when the transporter's fixed. I know I don't have to tell you to test it thoroughly."

"Indeed not. I will contact you as soon as the transporter becomes operational. Spock out."

Kirk turned back to the others. "Well, you heard that. Sounds like you get to have that drink sooner, rather than later." He signaled the bartender for another round.

Chapel turned to Uhura. "Did you hear Spock do a Scottish accent!"

Uhura smiled at her friend. "I thought his voice already sounded as much like liquid sex as it was possible for a voice to sound, but adding a Scottish accent to that ... oh, my!"

Chapel nodded in agreement, and McCoy turned to the two women. "What is it with women and that Vulcan, anyway? Half the women on the ship get this dreamy look on their faces when he walks by, and I just don't understand it."

Uhura smiled at the doctor. "Don't worry about it, Len; you probably have to be a straight woman or a gay man to understand."

Kirk jumped in. "Actually, Bones isn't the only one who wonders what this fascination is that women seem to have with Spock. We aren't just teasing, here; we'd honestly like to know."

Chapel laughed. "You just think that every woman in the world should fall at _your_ feet!"

All three of them laughed at Kirk, who grinned back at them, unrepentant.

McCoy said, "I don't think every woman should fall at _my _feet; will you tell _me_?"

Chapel looked at her boss consideringly. "You really want to know, don't you? I don't know if we can answer the question completely, though; after all, we only have an hour."

McCoy blinked. "Telling me why you find Spock so attractive would take more than an hour?"

Uhura said, "At least. But maybe we can hit the high points in an hour." She looked at Chapel. "Do you want to start, or should I?"

"You start," Chapel said. "I find this topic slightly embarrassing, so I want to be a little bit drunker before I weigh in."

Uhura laughed. "Well, drink up, girl; I'm not gonna face down the Captain and the CMO all by myself."

Chapel smiled, then took a large swallow of her drink, and the others followed suit. Uhura turned to McCoy. "I can talk about his sterling character, his magnificent mind, his endearing personality, or his beautiful face and figure. Where would you like me to start?"

McCoy goggled at her for a moment, then said, "Start with whichever comes to mind first."

"Okay." Uhura took a sip of her drink and organized her thoughts. "Although our culture pays lip service to the ideal that men and women are equal, the old ideas aren't dead, and everyone still knows what you mean if you say 'masculine' or 'feminine.'"

"Sure," McCoy said, somewhat surprised by this opening.

Uhura went on. "Spock is unusual in that he has all of the _virtues_ that are traditionally considered masculine while having only one of the _flaws_ of traditional masculinity."

Chapel nodded. "He's brave and strong, and I don't mean physically strong, though he's that, too."

Uhura said, "He's decisive, and he's protective of anyone he sees as weaker, which is probably everyone on the ship; he has a real _noblesse oblige _thing going on."

McCoy raised his glass. "If you repeat this to him, I'll deny it, but I think Jim and I are both willing to stipulate that Spock has all of the masculine virtues; you don't need to list them all."

Kirk smiled. "Agreed. Let's hear about the other side."

Uhura said, "All right. If you think about the flaws or faults of masculinity, he just doesn't have them."

"Just to make sure we're all on the same page," Kirk said, "Suppose you list these masculine faults that Spock doesn't have."

Uhura said, "I'm not saying that all men have these, or even that most men do. But these are the faults that people are willing to overlook if a man has them, whereas they're much less tolerated in a woman. These are things that people think of as masculine, even though they're negative."

"Don't worry," Kirk said, "We all passed Cultural Awareness 101. I'm aware that you're not male bashing or saying that all men do these things. You can put the disclaimers down and just talk."

Chapel said, "It's expected or tolerated or somehow okay for men to be rude, but Spock is always exquisitely polite."

Uhura nodded. "Exquisitely!" She took a sip of her drink. "And it's expected that men will be crude, but Spock is as civilized as they come, even refined."

Chapel sighed. "And most women have cause to fear men's anger. Most of us only have to fear the verbal expression of that anger, though far too many women still have to fear the physical expression of anger. Spock never allows himself to become angry, unless he's been compromised by some sort of illness or alien mind-control or something. It's impossible to even _imagine_ Spock's being physically or verbally abusive when he's in his right mind."

Uhura continued. "And while most women appreciate having male lust directed at them, we usually appreciate it only from one particular man, and in private. Most men don't realize how intrusive most women find it to be leered at in public, by strangers or by acquaintances. And Spock never does that."

Chapel said, "Spock is a pacifist, so he's violent only when there's no other choice, and he's never vengeful."

Uhura added, "Spock is always clean and beautifully groomed; he hates being dirty."

Chapel said, "Spock doesn't smoke or drink or or swear or spit or scratch himself inappropriately or —"

"Okay," Kirk held up a hand. "Okay, we get the idea. Spock has none of the masculine vices except one. I have to know, what's that one?"

Chapel and Uhura exchanged a glance. Chapel said, "He doesn't share his feelings easily, but then, most men don't. And since he's a Vulcan, it's culturally appropriate for him not to do so, so he gets some leeway even on that one."

"Plus," Uhura chimed in, "Although he doesn't _talk _about his emotions, he can do mind melds, so if you were in a relationship with him, he could take you inside his mind and _show _you how he felt." She shook her head. "No human can do that, and since it must be the ultimate form of communication, I really wish I could experience it!"

"You and me _both," _Chapel said, and both women sighed.

Kirk and McCoy exchanged glances. McCoy cleared his throat. "So tell me about the physical, then. I heard you utter the words 'beautiful face and figure,' but I didn't quite believe it."

Uhura looked at Chapel. "You start this one."

Chapel grinned. "Yeah, I'm drunk enough to wax rhapsodic about Spock's face now." She looked at McCoy. "You know this, Doctor." She looked at Kirk. "But you might not."

"Might not know what?" Kirk asked.

"Studies show that women are better than men at interpreting the meaning of facial expressions, especially subtle facial expressions, and Spock's facial expressions are nothing if not subtle."

"Facial expressions!" McCoy looked flabbergasted. "Spock doesn't _have _facial expressions."

"Yes, he does," Kirk said.

McCoy looked at Kirk. "Well, that explains a lot, like why you've always gotten along better with Spock than I have."

Kirk looked at McCoy. "You really can't see them?"

McCoy shook his head. "Nope. As far as I'm concerned, that man's a statue, the original stone face."

Kirk looked at his friend in surprise, then turned to the two women. "YOU see them."

Chapel smiled. "We do. We see what you see, and the fact that you recognize subtle facial expressions better than most men may be part of why you're so good at understanding and manip—, er, _managing_ people."

Kirk laughed. "You can say 'manipulating;' I'll own up to it. It's part of my job."

"But back to Spock," Uhura said. "The fact that most women can actually detect Spock's subtle facial expressions — and many men cannot — explains why we don't see him as cold or intimidating, the way some of the male crew members do."

"I can't speak for all women, just for myself," Chapel said, "But part of why I can detect Spock's facial expressions is because I look at that face every chance I get. It's the most _interestingly_ beautiful face I've ever seen."

McCoy nearly choked on his drink. "You can say that with Jim Kirk sitting right there? Jim's so pretty his face should be registered as a deadly weapon."

Chapel smiled at Kirk. "No insult to the Captain was intended. Yes, Kirk does have a pretty face, but its very prettiness makes it less interesting than Spock's face. Pretty faces meet our cultural expectations for how faces should look, so they're never very interesting."

Kirk said, "She did say, Bones, that Spock had the most _interestingly _beautiful face she'd ever seen; I think that might be different from just plain beautiful."

Chapel nodded. "It is. I could look at Spock's face every day and never get tired of it; somehow his face is still interesting, even after seeing it for more than a year now."

"But it's not just interesting," Uhura said, "His face _is _beautiful. That long, thin face looks like a poet's face. When you add his musician's hands to that poet's face, the combination makes him look sensitive and does a lot to counteract the Vulcan demeanor."

McCoy spluttered. "Sensitive!"

Uhura grinned merrily at the doctor. "Can your heart stand the strain?"

"It's good for him; he can skip tomorrow's workout," Kirk joked. "Please don't stop; this is fascinating — to coin a phrase — and I want to hear more."

Chapel said, "You can always tell what Spock is feeling by watching his eyes. He may be able to keep the rest of his face properly Vulcan, but his eyes give him away. Such dark, deep-set eyes seem like they'd be good at keeping secrets, but he has wonderfully expressive eyes."

"Tell me about it!" Uhura said. "When he and Matt Decker were having their little showdown on the Bridge, while the Captain was on the _Constellation_, I thought we were going to hear about a new Vulcan special ability called the Vulcan Death Glare."

"I wish I could have seen it," Chapel said.

Uhura said, "Oh, he was magnificent. He faced down a Commodore, and he was so focused and intent, so eager to do the right thing about the doomsday machine _and _to protect the _Enterprise. _He followed regulations to the letter, but you could see how he felt in his eyes." She shivered. "If I'd been Matt Decker, I'd have shriveled up on the spot."

"I wish I'd seen that, myself," Kirk said. "Okay, we have expressive eyes, and I'll give you that one; he does have expressive eyes, at least for a Vulcan. What else?"

"Those cheekbones," Chapel said dreamily. "God, you could practically cut yourself on them. I wish I could caress them, just once." She came back to herself with a start, blushed, and took a hasty gulp of her drink.

"And we have to talk about the ears," Uhura said. "Those elegantly beautiful ears. I can't see them without wanting to suck gently on the tips." She winked at Chapel. "I don't suppose we'd be lucky enough that they'd be an erogenous zone?"

McCoy pointed at Uhura. "'ELEGANTLY beautiful?' Now I know you're just saying that to try to wind me up! You can't really believe that."

Uhura looked at Chapel, and they both laughed. "No, Doctor, it's true," the nurse said. "We honestly think his ears are elegantly beautiful."

Kirk rattled the ice in his glass before taking another sip of his drink. "I have to agree with the ladies on this one, Bones. They really are elegantly beautiful."

The doctor gawked at Kirk. "Now, I know _you're _pulling my leg."

Kirk shook his head. "I'm not, really." He shrugged. "What can I say, they're lovely ears." He looked questioningly at the women, inviting them to go on.

Chapel took up the thread. "And his lips, those were carved by a master sculptor on a good day. They're beautifully shaped, a perfect Cupid's bow."

Uhura nodded. "And I love the gracefully upswept eyebrows and especially the little curlicue at the end."

Chapel said, "Add a lovely line of jaw and chin, plus a strong enough nose to tie it all together, topped off by a cap of dark hair so glossy it looks like it should be the pelt of a seal or some other aquatic mammal, not something as mundane as the hair of a person." She turned to Uhura. "Do you suppose it feels as silky as it looks?"

"If I'm ever privileged enough to find out, I will certainly let you know!" The women laughed.

"With such loving descriptions, I have to accept that you two love every part of Mr. Spock's face," Kirk said. "But what about below the neck? He's skinny; he doesn't fill out the uniform at all."

Chapel shook her head. "Some women like beefy men, but I'm not one of them. To me, he's not skinny, he's deliciously slender. That long, slender torso, those narrow hips, those long legs, that adorable tiny butt..."

Uhura smiled. "Skinny men usually aren't very strong, physically, which can have drawbacks during ... certain activities. But Spock is a Vulcan; even as slender as he is, he's still stronger than any human. We can indulge our fondness for slender men with no drawbacks."

Chapel patted Kirk's hand and said, "Don't worry, Captain; lots of women do like the beefy look. Though I won't name names, I've heard more than one woman call you 'Captain Sexy Pants.'"

Uhura laughed. "It's true, they do! You have nothing to worry about, Captain, believe me."

Kirk smiled. "I've had enough success with the ladies that I wasn't concerned. But it is true that the kind of woman who finds me attractive is the kind of woman I know the most about. I wasn't aware that there were so many women who liked their men ... boney."

The women laughed. "Ah, but they're such _good _bones, Captain," Chapel said. "Take it from a nurse; those are some very good bones."

McCoy put down his glass with a thunk. "A man who looks like Satan, and women think he's gorgeous!" He shook his head. "I've always heard that women like bad boys."

Chapel laughed. "Spock may _look _like Satan, but he's the furthest possible thing from a bad boy. He's the most ethical person I've ever met, and when you consider that my acquaintance includes such paragons as the three of you, that's saying something." She smiled at McCoy. "His ethical nature is probably the thing I love most about him, so get that 'bad boy' idea out of your head."

Uhura nodded. "That goes for me, too. Why, even in the Mirror universe, Spock was the best of a bad lot. His loyalty and decency go so deep that even the Empire couldn't corrupt him completely." She tilted her head to one side, thinking. "If the word hadn't been tainted by association with religious zealots and self-righteous idiots of all stripes, I'd say that Spock was a 'righteous' man."

"'Righteous,'" Kirk repeated. "It's a good word for him. And it's a cruel joke that such a morally upstanding person does look like traditional depictions of Satan."

Chapel shook her head. "One of Satan's many names is the Father of Lies. I figure his first lie must have been about what he looks like, so that we wouldn't recognize him."

"But why pick _that _look?" Kirk asked. "It's not as if there were real people on Earth who looked like that."

Chapel smiled. "I always figured that Satan swapped his picture for one of an angel."

"An angel!" McCoy looked apoplectic.

Chapel grinned. "Ah, but it would explain a lot, wouldn't it? And if the Father of Lies did switch his picture with an angel's, that means that you should be VERY cautious if you ever see someone sporting wings and a halo!"

The other three laughed, and the discussion paused while everyone sipped their drinks. Then Kirk looked at the two women consideringly. "You haven't mentioned his mind. I thought any discussion of Spock's finer qualities would have to start with that magnificent mind."

Uhura said, "That's why I _didn't _start there, Captain. Everyone knows Spock is a genius, and everyone admires him for it. Telling you that we admire his mind would be redundant; you already know that."

"But it _is_ true," Chapel put in, "And it's one more reason to think longingly about mind melds. To actually go _inside_ that mind, to see what's _in _such a wonderful brain ... it must be like visiting the galaxy's biggest library."

"I always imagine that it's like the British Museum, myself," Uhura said. "I bet there are rooms upon rooms of the most fascinating artifacts, everything neatly labelled and carefully explained. But living, breathing, growing, not just sitting there static and dead."

McCoy said, "But a mind meld goes both ways. If you ever melded with Spock, he'd see everything that's in your head, too. Doesn't that bother you, something so intrusive? Wouldn't you feel exposed?"

Christine swallowed. "I do worry that my mind would seem rather small and shabby, compared to his. But I'm pretty sure he would never judge me." She took a deep breath, then sighed. "And to be that deeply known, to have someone understand and appreciate every piece of me ... nothing could match that." She looked down and swirled her drink. "It's a depth of intimacy that we humans can't achieve on our own."

Uhura smiled sadly and patted Christine's shoulder. "We shouldn't think so deeply about what we can never have; it'll only get us down."

Christine put her hand over Uhura's and squeezed it. "But sharing it helps. Knowing that you see what I see, that you long for the same things that I do ... I feel like I have company."

Uhura pointed at Christine. "'Company.' Girl, the next time we go on shore leave, we are both going to find some male company. Maybe we can't have a certain Vulcan we both know, but there's a lot we can have, a lot of men who'd be thrilled to show us a good time.

Chapel picked up her glass and clinked it against Uhura's. "It's a plan, Nyota. It's a definite plan." She drank from her glass, then looked challengingly at Kirk and McCoy. "We really did only hit the high points here — there's lots more we could say — but I hope we answered your question."

McCoy shook his head. "I'm still not sure I understand it, but I do at least know that you have reasons, and a lot of them."

"Good reasons, I'd say, Bones." Kirk looked at the women and winked. "Very good reasons."

Kirk's communicator chirped, and he flipped it open. "Kirk here."

"Spock here, Captain. Mr. Scott has repaired the transporter, and three separate test transports have all beamed up flawlessly. If you have finished your 'wee dram,' we will beam you aboard."

"Perfect timing, Mr. Spock," Kirk said. "But then," he smiled at Chapel and Uhura, "I hear that you're perfect in a lot of ways."

"Captain?" Spock's voice was puzzled.

"Four to beam up, Mr. Spock."

The transporter took them home.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

1\. It really is true that some studies show that women are better than men at seeing and interpreting facial expressions, **especially subtle expressions**. (See, for example, Hampson, van Anders, and Mullin, 2006, and Hoffmann, Kessler, Eppel, Rukavina, and Traue, 2010.)

Also, I really do think that women's greater ability to see subtle expressions may explain why Spock was more popular among female fans. Of course, that's not the _whole_ story; Leonard Nimoy's natural magnetism also had something to do with it. :-)

2\. Thanks for reading!

3\. This is a fan-made work, not for profit, and no infringement is intended. Actually, I'm pretty sure that publicly mooning over Spock is _good for _the people who own him. :-)

.


	2. Chapter 2: Epilogue

**Author's Note: **

I had thought this story was done, but Uhura and Chapel showed up and insisted that there was more to say. I don't even know if they're done YET. We'll hope so, but Spock IS so very wonderful and so very compelling... :-)

* * *

.

Once they'd beamed back to the ship, Christine Chapel walked Nyota Uhura to her cabin and followed her in when Nyota opened the door. Uhura gestured to the room's only other chair as she sank into her own, then looked questioningly at Chapel.

Christine smiled at Nyota, then sat back and crossed her long legs. "Now that the captain and Dr. McCoy are out of the way, we can have the rest of the conversation."

Nyota smiled back. "No matter how close Spock and the captain are, I didn't think the rest of the story was really for Jim Kirk's ears ... and I KNOW it's not for Leonard McCoy's ears!"

Christine laughed. "Yeah, McCoy would either tease us unmercifully or expire of apoplexy; I'm not sure which."

Nyota bit her lip and looked at the nurse. "We haven't talked before about anything beyond what I told the captain and Leonard. How did you know there were things I wasn't mentioning?"

Chapel snorted. "We both have the same disease, so I figured we'd have similar symptoms. Heaven knows that 'sterling character, magnificent mind, endearing personality, and beautiful face and figure' would be more than enough to make us love him, think about him, maybe even obsess about him, all by themselves, but I know there's more."

Uhura sighed. "I wanted to keep this lighthearted in front of the captain, but a lot of this actually makes me sad, and I know it makes you sad, too. Do we really want to talk about the rest of it?"

Chapel smiled sadly. "We're both gonna think about it, after that conversation with Kirk and McCoy. I figure we'll feel better if we share it than if we each ruminate about it privately."

Uhura got up and went to her dresser, then came back with a bowl of tiny chocolate candies, which she placed on the table between them. "This kind of girl talk needs chocolate!" She sat back down and picked up a few candies.

"Absolutely!" Chapel took a handful of candies and popped a couple in her mouth. After she'd swallowed them, she said, "Okay, so let me know I'm not the only one who thinks some of the things that go through my mind."

Uhura smiled. "Okay." She took a deep breath, blew it out, then said, "I know that Kirk and Spock are close. They're closer than most brothers, and either of them would die for the other and think his life not squandered. And in spite of that, Spock still seems like the _alonest _man I've ever met. Kirk loves him like a brother, and Spock loves him back as much as a Vulcan can and yet ... I can't shake the sense that Spock is essentially solitary. He's the only Vulcan-human hybrid I've ever heard of, maybe the only one there is, and I guess that's part of it. But I look at that man, and my heart just _aches, _and I want to rush in and relieve the aloneness that I know is there."

Christine nodded. "Bingo. Yep, I've felt exactly the same thing. I know that McCoy is way fonder of Spock than he'll ever admit. And no one can work in Sickbay for very long without learning that while Kirk hates it when any of the crew is injured, he's positively frantic when Spock is. And for all that Spock claims to feel nothing for anyone, he's as frantic as a Vulcan can be when Kirk's the one who's hurt. So I know those three guys are close; I've seen it myself. And yet, like you, I keep getting the sense that Spock is separate, isolated, totally alone. I know damned well that he has friends, yet there's this deep sense of isolation I get from Spock. I was afraid I was making it up, which is why I pushed so hard for us to talk about this, but..." She looked searchingly at Uhura's face. "You feel it, too."

Uhura nodded. "Oh, yeah. I feel drawn to Spock for a lot of reasons, but his aloneness is probably the thing that keeps pulling me in against my better judgment. It's like I see his aloneness, and that somehow makes ME feel lonely, and I want to relieve his loneliness in order to get rid of my own. But I'm not normally lonely, myself; it's only looking at him that makes me feel lonely." She shook her head and looked at Chapel. "If that makes any sense at all. I feel unusually inarticulate here."

"No, it makes perfect sense," Chapel said. "I understand what you mean, because I feel the same way. I feel this sense of isolation when I look at him, and I want to make _him _less isolated so that _I'll _feel better." She frowned. "I guess I want to take care of him, which would be funny if it weren't so sad. I mean, who can take care of himself better than Spock?"

"He can take care of himself physically, but he pretends that he doesn't need any taking care of emotionally." Uhura said. "And I think that's part of what gets to me about him. I'm not the caretaker type; I don't date the kind of man who's looking for a mommy to take care of him. And yet, I do want to take care of Spock."

Christine laughed ruefully. "I AM the caretaker type — I'm a nurse, after all — and I want to take care of him, too." She looked at Uhura. "If he can make people as different as you and me want to take care of him, then there's something going on. It's not just us."

Uhura frowned. "Could it be something to do with his telepathy? I know he has to rein it in when he's around humans, which is almost all the time. Could it be that it's his telepathic sense that's lonely? Maybe it needs another Vulcan to connect with?"

Christine popped some more candies in her mouth and chewed them while she thought. "Maybe it's not so much that his telepathic centers are lonely as that they're just more restrained than is usual for a Vulcan, since Vulcans don't usually live completely surrounded by humans. Neither of us is a telepath, but maybe we're picking up on the telepathic wall or shield or whatever it is Spock has to surround himself with, and that's what reads as loneliness or isolation to us?"

Nyota nodded. "That's a reasonable theory; it fits what we know about him. I'm gonna try to believe it, because I don't want to feel lonely every time I look at Spock."

Christine sighed. "Yeah. Me, too. I think it might make me feel a bit better about the whole Spock thing."

Nyota looked over at her friend. "And now _you_ raise one of the other topics. Let ME know that I'm not the only one who thinks some of these things."

Christine smiled. "Okaaaay. Let's see what you make of this one. Another thing that attracts me to Spock is that he's a walking mystery. Well, all Vulcans seem mysterious to me, even though they've been Earth's big brothers for a couple of centuries now. But Spock seems even more so, somehow. He loves humanity enough that he serves on a ship with us, instead of on a Vulcan ship, yet he hates humanity enough that he pretends to be all Vulcan instead of half human. He's dutiful enough that he follows most rules to the letter, yet he follows his own path enough that he stole the entire goddamned ship to take Pike to Talos IV. He claims to have no feelings, but he plays his lyre with the passion and sensitivity of a Betazoid." She threw up her hands. "I could go on for hours; I can't decide if he's the deepest person I've ever known or just the most conflicted!"

Uhura nodded. "I agree that Spock's mystery is part of his appeal. It's less about his contradictions for me, though, and more about his reticence. He's so very private that we know almost none of the mundane details of his life, but watching him on the Bridge and on landing parties for more than a year now, I feel that I know who he IS, in the most essential sense. How can I know that he's the most ethical person I'll ever meet without knowing whether he has any brothers or sisters? How can I know that once he's decided something is his duty, he'll do it no matter what, even if it kills him, but not know anything about his childhood? I feel as if I know everything important about him while also feeling as if I know nothing about him."

Christine pointed at Nyota. "See! Contradictions!"

Uhura smiled. "All right, you win; he's mysterious partly because of contradictions." Her smile turned sultry. "And can we agree that his mystery is damned sexy?"

Christine picked up a nearby PADD and jokingly fanned herself with it. "Oh, yeah. I would really rather love Spock and have a relationship with him, but he's one man I could resign myself to have meaningless sex with, if that was all that was on offer!"

Nyota laughed in agreement. "But it's not only the mystery that's sexy, is it? He's the gentlest man I've ever met, and he's so polite that he's downright courtly, and yet I also have this bizarre feeling that he's dangerous." She shook her head. "I know that makes no sense."

Christine said, "Maybe not, but I have it, too. My head knows that he's the best man I'll ever meet, and yet you're right, he does _feel _dangerous." She cocked her head to one side and thought. "And yet it seems like a safe danger, if you know what I mean. Spock is so good that he would never hurt me, and yet he could hurt me more than any man on this ship, if he wanted to."

Nyota nodded. "He's a very powerful person, and I'm not talking about his position in Starfleet, though as second in command, he's powerful in that way, too. He's physically strong, he knows more than anyone, and he's an impressive telepath. If he wanted to use any one of those characteristics against us, much less all of them, he could flatten us in an instant. And yet he's such a fine person that he would never harm us."

Christine considered this. "It's that sense of great power just barely leashed that gets me going. I don't know why it's so sexy, but it is."

Nyota nodded. "Yep." She looked consideringly at Christine. "What else?"

Christine smiled. "Well, as long as we're talking about sex ... I love Spock exactly as he is; I don't need him to be emotional or demonstrative. But everyone loses control during sex; I know enough sex therapy to know that people who NEVER allow themselves to lose control can't have orgasms. So whoever gets to have sex with Spock — assuming that anyone ever does — would get to see him lose control, even if just for a moment. And what a privilege that would be! To witness that, even if just for an instant ... damn, I want that."

Nyota sighed. "You and me both, hon. It's funny, I'm attracted to him partly _because_ of his great restraint and supreme control, and yet I'd love to see him lose it, just for a little while."

Christine yawned. "If we don't go to bed soon, we'll see him lose it when he chews us out for falling asleep on duty!"

Nyota laughed. "And THAT is one thing I never want to see." She yawned. "But our next mission is a visit to Altair Six that's purely ceremonial; I'm sure nothing important will happen during it. I can probably fall asleep at the communications console, and even Spock won't notice."

Christine said, "Nothing's going on in Sickbay at the moment; I'm gonna start throwing things out of sheer boredom if something doesn't happen soon." She paused and looked momentarily guilty. "Not that I want any of the crew to get sick or injured!"

Christine and Nyota both stood up and hugged each other, then Christine walked towards the door. "Thanks for talking with me about this; I do feel better after having discussed it with you."

Nyota nodded. "Me, too. I'm glad you insisted that we talk. Besides, it'll give me something to think about during that long, boring trip to Altair Six."

Christine left for her own quarters, and Nyota prepared for bed, wondering if anyone would _ever _be privileged to see Mr. Spock in less than full control...

.

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**Author's End Notes: **

1\. I'm sure most of you remember that Altair Six is the planet that the _Enterprise _was supposed to go to at the beginning of "Amok Time." So Uhura and Chapel will get their wish to see a less controlled Spock real soon now...

2\. This is obviously about **TOS **Spock, since reboot Spock is rather a different fellow.

3\. Thanks for reading!

4\. This is a fan-made work, not for profit, and no infringement is intended. Actually, I'm pretty sure that publicly mooning over Spock is _good for _the people who own him. :-)

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